United States of America v. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani

Court	United States District Court, S.D. New York, United States
Case number	S10 98 Crim. 1023 (LAK)
Decision title	Opinion
Decision date	21 January 2011
Parties	United States of America Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani
Categories	Conspiracy, Terrorism, War crimes
Keywords	conspiracy, conviction, Kenya, motion to dismiss, Tanzania, Terrorism
Links	Opinion
Other countries involved	Kenya Tanzania

Summary

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was arrested in July 2004 in Pakistan and transferred to the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) in September 2006. He was charged with terrorism and war crimes (among other charges) in connection with the 1998 attacks on the US Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. In June 2009, Ghailani became the first prisoner of Guantanamo Bay to be transferred to the United States for prosecution. On 17 November 2010, Ghailani was found guilty conspiring to destroy property and buildings of the United States and acquitted of all other charges.

Ghailani’s defense lawyers filed a motion for a judgment of acquittal, or in the alternative, for a new trial, arguing that in the light of the acquittals, it was inconsistent to enter a finding of guilt with respect to one count.

The District Court disagreed, finding that there is no requirement of consistency of verdicts. It also rejected the argument in the alternative, holding that the conviction was not a manifest injustice (which could give rise to a new trial).

Procedural history

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was arrested in Pakistan in July 2004 and transferred to Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) in September 2006. Ghailani was charged in 2008 by the US Office of Military Commissions with ten counts of terrorism and war crimes.

In 1998, Ghailani, together with twenty-one other accused, was also indicted by a federal grand jury of the Southern District of New York. (Superseding indictment Part 1, Superseding indictment Part 2; Superseding indictment Part 3).

On 16 November 2009, Ghailani’s lawyers filed a motion for dismissal of his case on grounds of violation of his due process and speedy trial rights

On 12 July 2010, the District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Ghailani’s motion to dismiss due to the denial of his right to a speedy trial.

On 30 September 2010, Ghailani’s trial began. Opening statements were delivered on 12 October 2010. See A. Bottorff, 'Federal Court Hears Opening Statements in Ex-Guantanamo Detainee’s Civilian Trial', Jurist, 13 October 2010.

On 17 November 2010, Ghailani was acquitted of all but one of the more than 280 charges against him. He “was found guilty conspiring to destroy property and buildings of the United States.” (press release, FBI)

See also B. Weiser, 'Detainee Acquitted on Most Counts in ’98 Bombings', The New York Times, 17 November 2010; and J. Carmella, 'Ex-Guantanamo Detainee Acquitted on All but One Charge', Jurist, 18 November 2010.

Related developments

On 25 January 2011, Ghailani was sentenced to life imprisonment.

See B. Weiser, 'Ex-Detainee Gets Life Sentence in Embassy Blasts', The New York Times, 25 January 2011; and BBC, 'Ahmed Ghailani Sentence: The Future of Guantanamo', BBC News, 25 January 2011.

Ghailani appealed his sentence on grounds that he was denied his right to a speedy trial (Reuters, 'Jailed Ex-Guantanamo Detainee Appeals Life Sentence', 1 June 2012).

Legally relevant facts

In 2008, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was charged by the US Office of Military Commissions with ten counts of terrorism and war crimes including murder and attacking civilians related to the 1998 US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. Ghailani was captured in Pakistan in July 2004 and in 2006, he was transferred to the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba). Upon his arrest, Pakistani officials said his apprehension was one of the most significant since the detention of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 2003 (p. 2 et seq.).

In addition to the charges related to the embassy bombings, Ghailani was indicted by a federal grand jury of the Southern District of New York in 1998 alongside twenty-one other accused in United States v. Usama bin Laden et al.. According to that Indictment, Ghailani faced 286 separate counts, including conspiring with Osama bin Laden to kill Americans anywhere in the world (pp. 2 et seq.).

Core legal questions

Can the District Court grant Ghailani’s motion for a judgment of acquittal or, in the alternative, for a new trial?

Specific legal rules and provisions

Rules 29 and 33 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Court's holding and analysis

After being found guilty of conspiring to destroy property and buildings of the United States, Ghailani sought a judgment of acquittal in light of acquittals on all other counts, or in the alternative, a new trial (p. 39).

The District Court rejected Ghailani’s arguments on the inconsistency of the convictions, holding that “there is no requirement of consistency of verdicts” (p. 47).

With respect to Ghailani’s argument in the alternative, the District Court raised the issue of “whether the conviction on Count 5 [conspiracy to destroy US property and buildings] was a manifest injustice. This Court is persuaded that is was not. The jury, in the Court’s view, rightly found Ghailani guilty of the charge asserted in Count 5” (p. 50).

Accordingly, the “defendant’s motion for a judgment of acquittal or, in the alternative, for a new trial [was] denied” (p. 56).

Instruments cited

Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, adopted by order of the United States Supreme Court on 26 December 1944 and became effective on 21 March 1946.

Related cases

US District Court for the Southern District of New York, United States of America v. Usama bin Laden et al., Indictment, 4 November 1998.
US District Court for the Southern District of New York, United States of America v. Usama bin Laden et al.,Superseding Indictment, 12 March 2001 (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3).